I'll be live-tweeting the #ioedebates latest talk starting in five minutes discussing the 'somewhat' debate-creating line 'What if... we got rid of GCSEs?' - should make for some interesting opinions...

Tina Isaacs, Honorary Associate Professor of Educational Assessment, UCL Institute of Education (IOE) kicks off after the intros - she cites 3 questions all assessment should cover: 'what is its purpose, does it have structure to achieve that, and does it achieve purpose'

And she says that with so many purposes to GCSE it seems to have become too focused on accountability purpose, which undermines curricula purpose/the achievement purpose and distorts progression purpose #ioedebates

She continues GCSE are 'gotcha assessments' where outcomes are based on one set of exams - says this is bad assessment practice 'all eggs in one basket' and should instead come from multiple sources of evidence from throughout entire course.

She proposes instead we introduce something 'GCSE lite' - yes we need some accountability, but a set of tests (not exams), developed independently, free from govt interference, but fewer of them & EBacc should be compulsory to all until 16.

her most radical proposal (her words) though is that ideal would be to have outcomes judged 60% on exams, 25%, coursework and 15% on a teacher judgement based on their views. #ioedebates

Tim Oates, Group Director of Assessment Research and Development, @Cam_Assessment speaks next and says most exams systems have struggled with pandemic - which is not surprising given they weren't built with that in mind

and continues by suggesting some people are using the 'wobble' in the system as a time to call for ideas that they have long held - but these are often radical 'unproven' ideas without evidence

He says then that we need to get under skin of rationale of some new ideas being put forward - and notes among parents not much call about getting rid of #gcse - more concerned with attainment and progression.

He defends purpose of GCSE: structure learning guides, curriculum coherence, staff development, independent assessment, ongoing assessment, motivation to learn and data on performance and quality

Also he says it's not true England only nation with high stakes aassessment at 16. Admits not always as many subject,s but many nations have HS, external assessments at that age (singapore/estonia as examples) #ioedebates

BUT he says GCSEs will change and should change taking account of what has been learned over the last year or so. Warns that longer gcse period may knock on to degrees and create longer degrees - more cost at that stage in process (Unis - ) #iodebates.

Dennis Sherwood, Managing Director of Silver Bullet speaks next - raises issues of trustworthiness of grades - can we trust them? On surface seems obvious we can, but reality is denial of appeals process until recently enforces trust, not proving trust.

He cites Ofqual research that double marked some papers as showing notable discrepancies in marks between subjects - such as history - and the acknowledgement that one in four grades is not right.

he claims this admission by ofqual - that one in four grades is right to within one grade either side - is "cast iron evidence that current system is not just flawed, but fatally so"

@gillwyness_econ Deputy Director of the Centre for Education Policy and Equalising Opportunities, IOE - speaks next and says externally marked and set assessments have the least chance of being biased

Says if a teacher assessment model was to become the norm then bias would become more of a problem, citing research that has shown bias in teacher assessments in favour of certain groups - both race and class

Adds her own research on teacher grades are often inflated. Not teachers fault she says, it is very hard to get right - 'an impossible task and a great burden' she adds. #ioedebates

Always adds coursework can favour those with parents who are wealthiest - can help them more etc.

Tim Oates from @Cam_Assessment speaks again and questions why people think assessment should only have one purpose - I.e. accountability or standards

Cites example in Iceland of a termly spelling test - says it works really well for multiple purposes.

But he admits there are issues that need to be kept under constant review #ioedebates

. @gillwyness_econ agrees exams will have multiple purposes - including accountability - so we are in a world where going to use exams in this way. #ioedebates

Panel now moves to discussion if professionalism of teachers around assessment needs to be improved.

Tim cites insights on Sweden that have suggested grade inflation versus decline in teaching quality - and why external testing may be needed

He says what's interesting is govt is not sure if public is ready for external assessment, so teachers are ones implementing it, but without teacher CPD to do this, - both on techniques of assessment but also moral importance on standards - to be consistent.

Tina Isaacs from @IOE_London then says a mix of professional development, where teachers have time in working day to PD it could boost their judgment around assessments - and this should be in teacher training too

Dennis Sherwood adds if the feedback loop of what is coming back from exam boards on what is a grade A or B etc and is radically different to what teachers thing it is - without training around that - very hard for teachers to learn #ioedebates

Panel debate what benefits there would be from getting rid of GCSE - Tim says people may think this may broaden curriculum but it is already very broad and offers lots of room for teachers to be creative but still hit to grades #ioedebates

Panel ends by discussing if we could ever get political debate on this - a commission perhaps to look into future of assessment? @gillwyness_econ says it seems a good idea. Tim from @Cam_Assessment though cautions against too quick cycles of change

Tina says that educational select committee already does good work on this area people should pay more attention to.